My childhood was populated with stories of heroes who survived the Nazi occupation or of men and women who gave their lives heroically for others.

In contrast these days of lock-down seem like a less than heroic existence where even the sacraments are streamed, no going to the catacombs to mass in secret as the early Christians did during Roman times.  

And yet, how many of us want to emerge as someone better at the end of these strange days and weeks.  Lent and Easter time is a time Catholics typically get confession but there will be something missing this year as all Churches remain closed in Ireland. Lent seems to have been hijacked by the coronavirus, or rather coronavirus became our lent.  The desire to get a spiritual cleansing however remains, the desire to say sorry for the things we have failed in or neglected and the people we have let down.  

But is there another way we can experience the full impact of God’s mercy?  Pope Francis is often quoted as saying God is the God of surprises or he is the God who goes ahead of us. Hardly surprising you might add, after all he is God! But alas a simple fact we seem to forget.

Recently Pope Francis, in a very consoling statement from Mother Church to her suffering children reminded us that if we cannot go to confession we can still be forgiven, “Speak to God. He is your Father. Tell Him the truth: ‘Lord. I did this and this and this. Pardon me.’ Ask His forgiveness with all your heart with an act of contrition, and promise Him, ‘afterwards I will go to confession.’ You will return to God’s grace immediately. You yourself can draw near, as the Catechism teaches us, to God’s forgiveness, without having a priest at hand. Think about this: it’s time! This is the right moment, the opportune time. With a well-made act of sorrow, our soul will become as white as snow. ”The fact is simple, God can save us as he wills, because he is God. Coronavirus is not the first pandemic this world has experienced or that our mother Church has had minister to her children in.  The power of sin is limited.  As Catholics we believe that Jesus’ death on the Cross has robbed sin of its power.  So while the power of confession is a way of each person encountering personally God’s forgiveness, in extraordinary times, God can find extraordinary ways to love us. And what is more, our suffering and sadness, make God sorrowful. He is only longing for us to say sorry so he can pour out all his mercy and love. It sounds like a win-win, when we return to Him, his sorrow comes to an end, and our sin does as well. 

These days are an opportunity to come close to each other, to rediscover the things that are truly important to us, to grow spiritually.  Maybe we need to let God be God for a change! I heard someone say recently God’s word creates whereas our word merely describes his creation. So maybe we should let him do what he never tires of doing, forgiving and let us experience the joy and peace of being forgiven.